On March 26, 2024, Horizon Robotics (hereinafter referred to as “Horizon”), the holding company of Beijing Horizon Robotics Technology Research and Development Co., Ltd. submitted a prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange to be listed on the Hong Kong Main Board.

Horizon prospectus link:

HKEXNEWS.hk/app...

Main business

Horizon, founded in 2015, is a market-leading provider of advanced assisted driving (ADAS) and advanced autonomous driving (AD) solutions for passenger cars equipped with proprietary software and hardware technology. Relying on large-scale front-loading mass production solutions, it has become a key driver of the transformation and commercialization of smart cars. Horizon's solutions integrate leading-edge algorithms, dedicated software, and advanced processing hardware to provide core technology for advanced assistance and advanced autonomous driving, thereby improving the safety and experience of drivers and passengers.

According to Insight Consulting, Horizon is the only Chinese company among the top five providers of advanced assisted driving and advanced autonomous driving solutions in China. According to Insight Consulting, based on the installed volume of solutions in 2023, Horizon is the second-largest provider of advanced assisted driving solutions for OEMs in China, with a market share of 21.3%. Based on the total installed capacity of solutions in 2023, Horizon is also the fourth largest provider of advanced assisted driving and advanced autonomous driving solutions in China, with a market share of 9.3%.

Horizon offers a comprehensive portfolio of advanced assisted driving and advanced autonomous driving solutions, including:

• Horizon MatrixMono, an active safety advanced driving assistance solution, can achieve safety functions such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) and intelligent headlights (IHB), as well as comfort functions such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) and traffic jam assistance (TJA);

• Horizon Matrix Pilot, a high-speed automatic navigation (NOA) solution, can complete functions such as automatic up/down ramps, automatic entry/exit during traffic jams, automatic lane change, and autonomous driving on highways. It also provides advanced parking assistance functions, such as automatic parking assistance systems (APA) and automatic memory parking (VPA).

• Horizon Matrix SuperDrive, an advanced autonomous driving solution, aims to achieve smooth and humorous autonomous driving functions in all cities, highways, and parking scenarios. It is expected to be able to cope with various complex road conditions and achieve functions such as elegant obstacle avoidance, human-like gentle braking, dynamic speed control, and smooth unprotected left turning.

Horizon's advanced assisted driving and advanced autonomous driving solutions are built on a comprehensive technology stack, including algorithms for driving functions, underlying processing hardware, and various tools to facilitate software development and customization. The company's basic core key technologies (algorithms, BPU, Horizon Sky Building, Horizon Tap, Horizon Eddy) also have the potential to be commercialized separately.

Horizon has a large global customer base, including industry-leading OEMs and tier-1 suppliers. As of March 22, 2024, Horizon's integrated software and hardware solutions have been adopted by 24 OEMs (31 OEM brands) and equipped with more than 230 models. The top ten Chinese OEMs in terms of sales are all Horizon customers. In 2023, Horizon was selected for more than 100 new models.

Horizon's revenue mainly comes from automotive solutions, including product solutions (generating revenue by selling and delivering product solutions to OEMs and tier-1 suppliers), licensing and services (generating revenue by licensing customers to use the company's algorithms, software, and development tool chains), and a small portion of the company's revenue comes from non-automotive solutions.

Shareholder structure

According to the prospectus, Horizon uses a different voting rights structure. Among them, each Class A share can vote for 10 votes. Horizon is in the shareholder structure before listing (employee shareholding platform shares have not yet been issued).

Class A shareholders:

Dr. Yu Kai holds 16.95% of shares and 55.95% of voting rights through Everest Robotics Limited;

Dr. Huang Chang holds 3.82% of shares and 12.61% of voting rights through String Theory Robotics Limited;

Ms. Tao Feiwen holds 1.66% of shares and has 5.47% of voting rights through HOPE Robotics Holdings Inc. Her Class A shares will be converted to Class B common shares after listing;

Mr. Yang Ming holds 0.12% of the shares through Walnut Robotics, Inc., and has delegated 0.39% of voting rights to Dr. Yu. His Class A shares will be converted to Class B common shares after listing, and the voting rights delegation will also end after listing.

Employee shareholding platform, holding 9.61% of the shares (to be issued before listing).

SAIC Motor Group (600104.SH) holds 10.02% of shares through SAIC QIJUN I Holdings Limited;

Five Source Capital 5Y Capital holds a total of about 6.33% of the shares through several entities;

Hillhouse Capital holds 4.46% of the shares through HRRB Holdings Limited;

Sequoia HongShan holds a total of about 2.70% of the shares through several entities;

Volkswagen Group holds 2.64% of the shares through CARIAD Estonia AS (convertible loans will be converted to common shares after listing);

Intel Capital Corporation holds 2.13% of the shares;

EQT AB holds 2.09% of shares through Zoic Bidco Limited;

SK hynix Ventures holds 1.94% of the shares;

Yunfeng Fund holds about 1.74% of the total shares through several entities;

Shangxi Development Co., Ltd., holding 1.39% of the shares;

Mingyun Co., Ltd., holding 0.24% of the shares;

CCIC Huake holds 1.62% of the shares through JICT Oriental Holdings Limited;

Ningde Times (300750.SZ) holds 1.12% of shares through Hong Kong Times New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.;

BYD (002594.SZ, 01211.HK) holds 0.13% of shares through Golden Link Worldwide Limited;

IDG Breyer Capital Fund L.P, holding 1.25% of the shares;

CTG Evergreen Investment U Limited, holding 1.22% of the shares;

Chaos Investment Co., Ltd., holding 1.21% of the shares;

Wu Capital Limited holds 1.15% of the shares;

Harvest Magnificent Holdings Limited holds 1.07% of the shares;

Harvest Harvest Holdings Limited, holding 1.06% of the shares;

Hermitage Galaxy Fund SPC holds 1.05% of the shares;

CPE Investment holds 1.05% of the shares;

Scottish Mortgage holds 1.05% of the shares;

Kunshan Likai Investment Center, holding 0.97% of the shares;

Everbay Investment Limited holds 0.96% of the shares;

Vertex Ventures China III, L.P., holds 0.91% of the shares;

Forward Investment Corporation I, holding 0.52% of the shares;

Forward Investment Corpor, holding 0.39% of the shares;

Future Industry Investment Fund II, holding 0.63% of the shares;

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Industrial Collaborative Development Investment Fund, holding 0.25% of the shares;

Treasure Elements Limited, holding 0.84% of the shares;

AMF-2 Holdings Limited, holding 0.73% of the shares;

Neumann Capital holds 0.70% of the shares;

LCHR-I Holdings Limited holds 0.40% of the shares;

LCHR-II Holdings Limited, holding 0.17%;

LCHR-III Holdings Limited, holding 0.08%;

Oceanpine Vanguard Limited holds 0.65% of the shares;

Hansong Enterprises Limited, holding 0.63% of the shares;

Best Prosperity Investment I Limited, holding 0.63% of the shares;

CloudAlpha Master Fund holds 0.63% of the shares;

Huangpu River Capital SPC holds 0.63% of the shares;

Duckling Fund, L.P., holds 0.63% of the shares;

Day Wise Holdings Limited holds 0.63% of the shares;

Raumier Limited, holding 0.63% of the shares;

Chery CEBI Auto Industry holds 0.63% of the shares;

Yuefan International Limited holds 0.59% of the shares;

CMBCC Investment Fund SPC holds 0.58% of the shares;

Beijing Chunlin Equity Investment Center, holding 0.29% of the shares;

CITIC Construction Investment (International) Finance Co., Ltd., holding 0.27% of the shares;

CICC Ehealthcare Investment Fund, L.P, holds 0.54% of the shares;

Tropical Terrain Limited holds 0.52% of the shares;

Middle Way Edu Capital Fund I LP, holding 0.52% of the shares;

Vertex Growth Fund II Pte. Ltd, holding 0.29% of the shares;

Vertex Growth Fund Pte. Ltd, holding 0.21% of the shares;

Peyrepertuse Investment Limited, holding 0.44% of the shares;

Senstar Limited, holding 0.42% of the shares;

Prospect Bridge Innovation Limited, holding 0.42% of the shares;

Idea Laden Limited, holding 0.42% of the shares;

Hidden Hill SPV VI, holding 0.42% of the shares;

Apoletto Asia Ltd, holding 0.39% of the shares;

Oakwise Innovation Fund S, holding 0.34% of the shares;

Pluto Connection Limited, holding 0.31% of the shares;

Hel Ved Turbo Investment V, holding 0.31% of the shares;

Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Equity Investment Fund partnership, holding 0.31% of the shares;

Beijing Shouxin Jinyuan Management Consulting Center, holding 0.31% of the shares;

Blackstone Aqua Master Su-Fund, holding 0.31% of the shares;

Jiaxing Blossom Zhijia Investment Partnership holds 0.31% of the shares;

Hongshang Holdings Co., Ltd., holding 0.31% of the shares;

Hangzhou Lianli Ruixin Venture Capital Partnership, holding 0.31% of the shares;

JSC International Investment Fund SPC holds 0.27% of the shares;

Suzaku Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited, holding 0.26% of the shares;

Hong Kong Golden Flower Tea Asset Management Co., Ltd., holding 0.26% of the shares;

Cayman BingShang Limited Partnership, holding 0.26% of the shares;

Dongfeng Jiaotong Yinyuanjing Automobile Industry Equity Investment Fund (Wuhan) partnership, holding 0.26% of the shares;

Dongfeng Asset Management Co., Ltd., holding 0.26% of the shares;

CEF Smart Holdings Limited, holding 0.25% of the shares;

SG R.FO Investment (BVI), holding 0.14%;

SG Royal FO Investment 1 Pte. Ltd., holding 0.10% of the shares;

Xingyu Automotive Lighting (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd., holding 0.23% of the shares;

Zibo Minsheng Ouming Equity Investment Partnership, holding 0.13% of the shares;

Zibo Huaide Equity Investment Fund partnership, holding 0.08% of the shares;

Rich Horizon Investments Limited, holding 0.21% of the shares;

Sunrise Lead Technologies, holding 0.21% of the shares;

ORIX Asia Capital Co., Ltd., holding 0.21% of the shares;

Wealth Pointer Global Limited, holding 0.21% of the shares;

Bohai Securities Investment Co., Ltd., holding 0.21% of the shares;

Glory Assets Allocation II, L.P., holding 0.21% of the shares;

Qingdao Xinding Chaoge No.1 Equity Investment Partnership, holding 0.21% of the shares;

Shixiang Founders Capital VIII Limited, holding 0.21% of the shares;

Photon Ventures II Limited, holding 0.21% of the shares;

Yiwu Weihao Chuangxin Phase I equity investment partnership, holding 0.21% of the shares;

CCBT GQ Investment Fund L.P, holding 0.17% of shares;

KTBN No.16 Venture Fund, holding 0.15%;

Cassini Partners, L.P., holds 0.12% of shares;

Guangdong Xingyao No. 2 equity investment partnership, holding 0.11% of the shares;

Jiaxing Heyi Investment Partnership, holding 0.10% of the shares;

Shunyu Optical Technology (Group) Co., Ltd., holding 0.10% of the shares;

Alpha Win IV PE LPF, holding 0.10%;

Auto Hub Investment Limited holds 0.10% of the shares;

Covos Robotics Holdings Ltd., holding 0.10% of the shares;

Asset Profit Investment Limited holds 0.10% of the shares;

Pingyang Dingyuan Tianhong Equity Investment Fund partnership, holding 0.09% of the shares;

Favor Star Limited holds 0.07% of the shares;

Startech Growth Fund VCC (, holding 0.07% of shares;

Oceanwide Sigma Limited, holding 0.06%;

Xintianyu Global Co., Ltd., holding 0.06% of the shares;

Qingshun Limited, holding 0.06% of the shares;

Fareast Land Development Co., Ltd., holding 0.06% of the shares;

Daol Asset Management Co., Ltd., holding 0.04% of the shares;

Daol Investment Securities Co., Ltd., holding 0.02% of the shares;

Automotive Intelligent and Connectivity Alliance (Beijing) Technology Co. Ltd, holding 0.04% of shares;

Future Innovation Fund LP, holding 0.04% of shares;

Neumann Galaxy Limited, holding 0.02%;

Silver Tone Enterprises Limited, holding 0.02% of the shares;

Directors and Executives

The board of directors of Horizon consists of 12 directors, including 4 executive directors (Dr. Yu Kai, Dr. Huang Chang, Ms. Tao Feiwen, Dr. Chen Liming), 4 non-executive directors (Mr. Li Liang, Mr. Liu Qin, Dr. André Stoffels, Dr. Zhang Juehui), and 4 independent non-executive directors (Dr. Pu Jun, Mr. Wu Yingqiu, Dr. Katherine Rong Xin, Dr. Zhang Yaqin).

Company performance

According to the prospectus, in the past 2021, 2022 and 2023, Horizon's operating income was RMB467 million, 906 million and RMB1,552 million respectively. Net losses for the corresponding period were RMB2,064 billion, 8.720 billion and RMB6.739 billion respectively. Adjusted net losses for the corresponding period were RMB1,103 billion, $1,891 million and RMB1,635 billion respectively.

Intermediary team

The main intermediary team for Horizon's IPO is: Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and CITIC Construction Investment International as co-sponsors; PricewaterhouseCoopers as its auditors; Kindu and Davey as the company's Chinese lawyers and the company's Hong Kong and US lawyers; Jingtian Gongcheng and Jiali are their respective lawyers; and Insight Consulting is their industry advisors.